INTRODUCTOKY NOTE Another great war is arousing the civilized world to interpose and sanitary aids the civilization and science of whatever humane the present can offer Suddenly as by explosion two great nations that had fully entered into the spirit and purposes of the Geneva Congress and International Treaty for the neutral and humane treatment of sick and wounded soldiers have thrown their vast armies upon each other in quickly succeeding battles hurried marches and destructive sieges which have put this Treaty and its plans and agreements respecting help for the wounded to a very remarkable and severe test This trial has proved that Treaty and the International Association for relief of the wounded and sick in war to be the most glorious triumph over national hatred and jealousies and the inhumanities of war the world has ever seen The American people very well understand from their recent experience in a long war the necessity for popular and efficient organizations to give help to the gick aifd woti nded The United States Sanitary Commission has given the nations a memorable illustration of the usefulness and power of individual efforts organized and inspired for humane and patriotic duty The institution of that Commission says a European writer marks a new era in the world s history And now throughout the two great central countries of Europe the history of that institution is being repeated and a scheme of sanitary care and relief is carried into operation with all the advantages of a previous agreement and treaty to which every nation on Both France and Germany will that continent has given adherence fight out their war with m3 riads of soldiers that come directly from their once peaceful homes bearing with them to battle fields and in hospitals the memories of loved ones and home life just as our volunteer soldiers did and the measure of that grateful remembrance and fraternal regard which we in America feel towards the French

INTRODUCTORY NOTE 4 and German people for the rich contributions they sent for the relief of the sick and wounded of our army will now become the measure of their fraternal feelings towards the people of this country for whatever aid we give to their merciful work in hospitals and ambulances The actual results of the Geneva Treaty are of the most practical provide that the intelligence affection wealth sympathy of benevolent minds in all countries shall be permitted to contribute in all practicable ways to mitigate the woes of war and the International Treaty is in effect a scheme of organized benevolence devised by the people and officially revised and adopted by the national military authorities The unspeakable usefulness of such contributions from the beneficence and skill of the people was exemplified through the Sanitary and Christian Commissions in the American war Experience in the war of Austria Prussia and Italy in 1866 proved that the constant and largest bestowment of this aid from the people can be maintained without detriment to military discipline and success and in the present great war we witness the fraternal co operation of the people of all surrounding nations in this duty of helping the wounded Switzerland Austria Russia Belgium Holland and England have hastened forward the choicest sanitary supplies and large numbers of their ablest medical men with the means of succor to the wounded and already it is evident that this brotherly help from neutral nations is unspeakably useful to the victims of the war and that these acts of mercy are awakening deep emotions of gratitude throughout all Germany and France The efficient working of this international scheme of charity in war being thus assured the American branch of the kind and Its stipulations skill of the people and the work now deems it a duty to publish a brief summary of the proceedings and stipulations of the Conferences and the Treaty that have sanctioned the work together with a statement of the measures now in progress to raise the science which consoles and heals to a level with the science that destroys The people of the United States have given substantial aid to these measures and this report of progress and proceedings is now due to them at a time when their cooperation in the duty of relief to the French and German wounded is solicited Nsw by the International Committee YoBK Oct 22 1870

THE HUMANE TREATY International Conference at there in 1864 Geneva in The Congress and 1863 Progress of the Plan Governments and Relief Associations International Treaty international Conference of Delegates from in 1867 68 and 1869 at Paris Wilrzburg and Berlin Until the year 1861 no comprehensive and adequate pl n had ever been devised for giving to the sick and wounded in war the sanitary care and rehef which the governments and people at war owe to the soldier The shocking waste of human life in the Crimean war aroused the civilized world from its apathy and by the aid of Sir Sidney Herbert and Florence Nightingale the history of that terrible period and of the amazing results which sanitary efforts produced in it became the means of fixing a determination in numerous philanthropic minds that sanitary measures and the people s care should be interposed to prevent such suffering and needless mortality in all subsequent wars To administer the charities of sympathy and private beneficence upon bloody fields and in hospitals for the wounded was manifestly no easy task The story of such voluntary efforts to help the wounded on the battle fields of Palestro Magenta Marignano and Solferino is a sad testimony to the fact that the difficulties and insufficiency of all individual and philanthropic efforts seemed almost as inevitable as the circumstances and iron discipline of war itself The suddenness and enormous magnitude of modern wars also offered special obstacles to such efforts In 1 86 1 the necessity for these efforts and the ardent patriotism and sympathy of the people resulted in a work of sanitary care and relief in vast armies of our war for the Republic which removed all doubt concerning the practicability of giving any necessary amount of aid by an intelligent people who would cordially unite in the requisite plans of organization In October 1863 at the call of the

HUMANITY IN WAR 6 Society of Public Utility of Geneva Switzerland there assembled in that city a general conference of delegates and philanthropic persons to consider questions pertaining to the insufficiency of sanitary ser A scheme for an associated effort needed reforms was presented and after four days of earnest discussion of the several propositions by such leading military and sanitary authorities as General Dufour the chief of the Swiss armies M de Preval of the French Imperial Guard Dr Loeffler Surgeon in Chief of the Fourth Corps d Armee of Prussia Dr Rutherford Inspector General of British Army Hospitals and others the following resolutions were adopted for submission to the respective governments of the civilized world vice in armies and campaigns for the attainment of the Resolutions of tlie Oeueva Conference There shall be in every country a Committee whose duty it be to co operate in the time of war by all the means in its power with the Sanitar service of the army 2 Sections unlimited in number shall be formed in order to second the Committee to which the general direction will belong 3 Every Committee shall place itself in communication with the Government of its own country in order that its offers of assistance in case of need may be accepted 4 In time of peace the Committee and Sections shall be concerned in the means to make themselves really useful in time of war especially in preparing material aid of every kind and in endeavoring to instruct and train the volunteer nurses 5 In the event of war the Committees of the belligerent nations shall furnish relief to their respective armies in proportion to their resources in particular they shall organize and place the volunteer helpers on an active footing and in conjunction with the military authority they shall arrange places for the reception of the wounded They shall solicit the assistance of the Committees belonging to i shall neutral nations 6 On demand or with the concurrence of the military authority the Committee shall send volunteer helpers nurses to the field of battle They shall there place them under the direction of military chiefs

HUMANITY IN WAR 7 7 The volunteer helpers or nurses employed with armies shall be provided with everything necessary for their maintenance 8 They shall wear in all countries a white band around the arm with a red cross upon it as a distinctive and uniform badge 9 The Committees and Sections of the different countries shall meet in International Conference in order to communicate to each other the result of their experience and to decide on measures to be adopted for the advancement of the work 10 The exchange of communications between the Committees of the different nations shall be made provisionally through the medium of the Committee of Geneva The Conference also adopted and sent to the respective Governments the following fc REQUESTS That the Government should grant protection to the Relief Committees which may be formed B That in time of war neutrality should be proclaimed by the belligerent nations for the field and stationary hospitals and that it may also be accorded in the most complete manner to all agents employed in Sanitary work to volunteer nurses to the inhabitants of the country who shall assist the wounded and to the wounded them A selves C That an identical distinctive symbol be adopted for the medical corps of all armies or at least for all persons attached to this service in the same army That an identical flag be also adopted for the field and stationary hospitals of all armies PORGRESS OF THE PLAN These propositions having been submitted with due formality to the different Governments of Europe by the Central Committee of Geneva and no less than fifteen of them having officially signified them as the basis of an International Convention and Treaty of neutralization and relief to military patients and the sanitary service in war an International Congress of plenipotentiary diplomatic and military agents of the Governments of Europe was convened in accordance with a request from the Supreme Federal Council of Switzerland That diplomatic Congress assembled on the their approval of

HUMANITY IN WAR 8 8th of August 1864 and after several days sittings agreed upon Treaty and Convention that was acceptable to the Governments they represented and which have since been ratified by every sovereign in Europe Subjoined is the text of THE TKEATY FOR THE AMELIORA TION OF THE CONDITION OF WOUNDED SOLDIEES OF AEMIES IN THE FIELD The Sovereigns of the countries following to wit Italy Baden Belgium Denmark Holland Spain Portugal France Prussia Saxony Wurtemburg and the Federal Council of Switzerland animated with a ing as far as in then power the evils inseparable less severities and common from war of amehorating the condition of soldiers desire of mitigat of suppressing need wounded on the of battle have determined to conclude a treaty for this purpose named field and having plenipotentiaries to sign such a Convention these plenipotentiaries after the due interchange of their powers found to be in good and proper form have agreed upon the following articles to wit Article 1 Ambulances and military hospitals shall be acknowledged to be neuter and as such shall be protected and respected by belligerents so long as any sick or wounded may be therein Such neutrality shall cease if the ambulances or hospitals should be held by a military force Article 2 Persons employed in hospitals and ambulances comprising the staff for superintendence medical service administration transport of wounded as well as chaplains shall participate in the benefit of neutrality whilst so employed and so long as there remain any wounded to bring in or Article The persons designated to succor 3 in the preceding article may even after occupa tion by the enemy continue to fulfil their duties in the hospital or ambulance which they serve or may withdraw in order to rejoin the corps to which they belong Under such circumstances when those persons shall cease from their funcbe delivered by the occupying army to the outposts of the tions they shall enemy

HUMANITY IN WAR Article As 9 4 equipment of military hospitals remains subject to tlie tlie laws of war persons attaclied to such hospitals cannot in withdrawing carry away any articles but such as are their private property Under the same circumstances an ambulance its shall on the contrary retain equipment Aeticle Inhabitants of the country 5 who may bring help to the wounded shall be The Generals of the belligerent powers shall remain free make it their care to inform the inhabitants of the appeal addi essed to their humanity and of the neutrality which will be the consequence of it Any wounded man entertained and taken care of in a house shall be con sMered as a protection thereto Any inhabitant who shall have entertained wounded men in his house shall be exempted from the quartering of troops as well as from a part of the contributions of war which may be imposed respected and shall Article Wounded or may nation they sick soldiers shall 6 be entertained and taken care of to whatever belong Commanders in chief shall have the power to deliver immediately to the outposts of the enemy soldiers who have been wounded in an engagement when circumstances permit this to be done and with the consent of both parties Those who are recognized after their wounds are healed as incapable of back to their country The others may also be sent back on condition of not bearing arms during serving shall be sent the continuance of the war Evacuations together with the persons under whose directions they take place shall be protected by an absolute neutrality Akticle A 7 and unifonn flag shall be adopted for hospitals ambulances and evacuations It must on every occasion be accompanied by the neutral distinctive An arm badge brassard shall also be allowed for individuals neutralized but the dehvery thereof shall be left to mihtary authority flag The flag The details of execution of the present and the arm badge shall bear a red cross Article on a white ground 8 Convention shall be regulated by the commanders in chief of belligerent armies according to the instructions of their respective Governments and in conformity with the general principles laid dovm in this Convention 2

HUMANITY IN lo Abticle WAR 9 The High Contracting Powers have agreed to communicate the present Con vention to those Groyernments which have not found it convenient to send pleni potentiaries to the International Conference at Greneva with an invitation to the protocol is for The present Convention that purpose shall accede thereto left open Article 10 be ratified and the ratifications shaU be exchanged at Berne in four months or sooner if possible In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the same and have Done dred and affixed thereto the seal of their arms at Geneva the twenty second day of August one thousand eight hun sixty four Signed Additions to tlie Articles of the Treaty Original of August 22 1864 adopted October 20 1868 relating to Naval war Additional Aeticle The staff The articles omitted 1 designated in the 2d Article of the Treaty will continue after oc cupation by the enemy to give according to need assistance to the sick and wounded When of the ambulance temporary hospital that staff shall ask to retire the to which commandant shall fix the period of its departure which however it is attached of the occupying troops he may delay only for a short time in the event of mihtary necessities Additional Article 2 Measures shall be taken by the belligerent Powers to ensure to the neutralized staff which has fallen into the hands of the enemy the complete enjoyment of its treatment of the patients Additional Article 3 Under the conditions specified by Articles 1 and 4 of the Convention the term ambulance applies to the field hospitals and to other temporary establishments which follow troops upon field of battle for the reception of the sick or wounded Additional Article 4 Conformably to the spirit of the 5th Article of the Convention and to the reservations mentioned in the Protocol of 1864 it is explained that on regulat

HUMANITY IN WAR ing the equitable distribution of expenses relative to tlie ii lodging of troops and to the contributions of war account shall be taken only in proportion to the degree of charitable zeal displayed by the inhabitants Additional Article By extension of Article 6 of the Treaty it is tion of officers the retaining or possession of 5 stipulated that with the excep whom would be important as to the chances of the war and within the limits fixed by the second paragraph of that article the wounded that have fallen into the hands of the enemy even although they shall not be deemed incapacitated for service are to be sent back to their country after their cure or sooner if it be possible with the under standing however that they are not again to take up arms during the war Thirteen of the governments of Europe having through theif Plenipotentiaries at this Congress subscribed their adherence to the Treaty the remaining powers carefully examined into its provisions hand that of the Sultan of Turkey has arid finally the last royal approval to the covenant The military and State authorities of Europe therefore may be supposed to be ready to give this scheme of relief every facility for fair trial The people of the different countries have not only anticipated but greatly influenced this action of the sovereigns for they have during the last five years been steadily organizing National and local Associations for Relief of the Sick and Wounded in War and have chosen their counselors from among the ablest hygienists surgeons and military men From Moscow and St Petersburg to Naples and Madrid the National Relief Societies Societes de Secoiirs aiix Blesses are reported to be efiiciently organized and at the sudden opening of the present great war the Relief Association royal Hulfs Verein of Prussia and the French Societe de Secoiirs with hundreds of tributary associations in those countries were found in as perfect readiness to offer aid as the forces themselves were to move forward to battle Nothing seems to have been wanting in the system and organization of the central society in Berlin and its 280 auxiliaries or sections in the towns and villages of Prussia at the hour when the French proclamation of war was announced All of these relief associations Hulfs Vereme sprang to their meeting rooms and engaged in preparing the reserve sanitary supplies and arranged with the military authorities for the designation of whatever material and personal help should be offered by the people In France the National Soci de de Secours proved to be even subscribed its

HUMANITY IN WAR 12 for the war movement than was the imperial medical service itself The reader will find a distinct account of the present state of this sanitary and relief service in a subsequent more completely ready chapter THE ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES Since the Congress at Geneva and the ratification of the Treaty by most of the Governments there have been three International Conferences of delegates from Relief Societies and the Army authorities held in different years at Wiirzburg Paris and Berlin and another conference is to be held at Vienna in the year 1871 At each Conference subjects of great practical importance are discussed and the views of the representatives of the different countries are obtained upon the various propositions for giving full effect to the Geneva Treaty and for improving the sanitary service in armies THE WORZBURG conference The chief propositions submitted had reference mainly to securing adequate military protection for the stores convoys etc from the the unexceptional Societes de Secours destined for the wounded neutralization of the wounded that require surgical treatment without transportation and lastly the establishment of strict rules concerning the delivery of permissions and arm badges to the representatives of relief societies and all persons who engage in the care of sick and wounded also a request to the Governments that they shall take care that in time of war every soldier is furnished with a certificate indicating his name place of birth and the corps regiment or company to which he belongs and that the inviolability of the neutrality promised in the Treaty should be guaranteed by uniform declarations published in the military codes of the different nations THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AT PARIS Among mended to IN 1 86 numerous propositions that were unanimously recomthe Governments by the delegates to this important the Conference the following have since that period received much attention i That ambulances hospitals and wounded on land or upon all the material for relief of the sea shall be neutral and respected by all the belligerents 2 The personal staff of hospitals and ambulances including per

HUMANITY IN WAR 13 sons for religious aid and those engaged in transport and administrative as well as the medical service shall have the benefit of neutrality 3 That such neutral persons may if they fall into the hands of the enemy continue to discharge their functions in the hospital or ambulance in which they are officiating 4 That the members of all National Societies wounded coring the assisting in sucland or of sea forces should be declared of neutral 5 The inhabitants of the country and the attendants upon the wounded in any house and the house itself in which any wounded soldiers are entertained and taken care of should have the rights of neutrality and military protection INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF DELEGATES AT BERLIN IN 1 869 At this Conference one hundred and sixty eight delegates were in attendance and all excepting two of the States of Europe were represented The following important results were decided in this Conference i bat Relief Societies will abstain from creating ambulances du com and whatever may draw their members will avoid in principle into the lines of battle 2 x Vs a general rule they will help establish and administer hos pitals of reserve 3 But at the seat of war in a foreign country the sanitary serv ice of the armies will be aided by Relief Societies both in persoimel and materiel a In the transport of sick and c 4 On b In hospitals With the field after a battle regard will be had to fortresses Gifts a view to material assistance central and local depots of sanitary materiel will be established at 5 wounded of materiel will home and in the interior undergo a abroad Especial which may be menaced strict examination before being sent to the theatre of war 6 The materiel of the sanitary service will conform as nearly as models adopted by the State all their arrangements in conformity 7 with the regulations of the army and will follow a plan previously possible to the The fixed upon Societies will act in for this purpose

HUMANITY IN WAR 14 8 Assistance to sick and be as far as practicable 9 wounded soldiers in each country shall under a central direction It is desirable that in each country or union of countries the between the Relief Societies and the military authorities during war be defined by certain rules and that these rules be as uniform as possible relations 10 In all that concerns the service at the seat of war efforts good relations and a common action with the Relief Societies existing in that country Preventive measures against any abuse of the international i i badge of neutrality are considered necessary must be made to establish 12 A rigorous police should be established to protect the dead and wounded from pillage or ill treatment on the field after battle 13 Hygienic regulations relating to the interment of the dead should be carefully observed 14 Some convenient means should be adopted to enable the dead and wounded to be easily identified 15 The articles of the Geneva Convention should be made known as widely as possible especially among soldiers The Conference adopted a recommendation to the nations for the addition of the following article to the Treaty In case of war non belligerent powers are invited to place at the disposal of the belligerents those surgeons of their armies whom they may be able to lend without disadvantage to their own service such surgeons to be placed under the orders of the chief medical officer of the belligerent army to which they may be attached The Conference also agreed upon the principles and methods which ought to govern the Voluntary Relief service in Naval War And in order to obtain more complete plans for making such aid effective the Central Prussian Committee offers a prize of 100 frederics of or for the best essay upon the questions submitted in Conference respecting this subject The duty of Relief Associations during peace was considered in the Conference and the plan of action that was then agreed upon is happily adapted to develop thoroughness of organization and a constant readiness for the exigencies of war The most essential points that were agreed upon relate to

HUMANITY IN WAR 15 i The organization of Help Societies and a Central Committee each country 2 The study and preparation of the most efficacious means of giving aid 3 The adoption of measures for having in training and readiness a corps of hospital attendants by the National Relief Committee in each country consequently the adoption of means for educating and training skilled nurses who in time of peace shall be useful to the sick poor At the same time the choosing and equipment of a sanitary corps of strong and suitable men who shall be found useful both in war and peace 4 The procuring of models and whatever improvements in the materiel for relief that can be suggested and the thorough testing of the same 5 The special study of the practical questions in hygiene and in the care of the sick and wounded 6 The relief societies promptly to give relief and methodical care wherever great calamities happen in time of peace and to em ploy themselves usefully in works of h umanity corresponding with their duties in time of war by giving well organized and speedy help 7 The duty of the respective National Committees to arrange with the military authorities for a perfect understanding and agreement upon all questions of relief service for war Respecting the International Committee of Geneva as originally provided by the first Conference in that perpetually neutral city the delegates at Berlin recommended that the Neutral Committee should continue its labors on behalf of all the National Associations and State Committees of Relief also that it should charge itself with the duty of publishing a journal and interesting itself in the formation of a collection of objects of sanitary materiel inventions relating to the welfare of sick and Geneva Committee was authorized in case improvements and wounded soldiers The war occurs to select a and convenient place for a central neutral agency for the reception and distribution of sanitary supplies and the maintenance of correspondence the issuing of supplies for the wounded belligersuitable ents etc The Berlin Conference proposed the following important ques See Resolutions of Conference etc tenth Resolution page 7 in this pamphlet

HUMANITY i6 tion3 for further examination which shall and IN WAR for discussion at the assemble at Vienna in 1871 a How b How Conference shall delegates of Relief Societies best follow the military headquarters with a small convoy of materiel and attendants best to maintain correspondence between Relief So cieties in belligerent armies c By what means shall the people be most effectively encouraged to aid the Relief organizations in war The declarations of this great Conference concerning the sentiment and decision they entertained in regard to our American relations to this scheme of humane effort among the nations were expressed in the following cordial terms The Conference expresses its great regret at not having had the valuable assistance of any delegate from the United States of North America Convinced that the great and noble nation one of the first in the world that has rendered eminent services to come with sympathy that the protocols of the Government this great the result of its sittings shall work of humanity will wel Conference desires be addressed by its President to its labors the of the United States and the Relief Committee in that country This summary of the proceedings in Council by which the moveof humane and sanitary care for the soldier in war that had its great example in our War for the Union had been made interfirst national over all Europe will give the reader some just conception of the efforts by which this result has been achieved Of course it is ment impossible in the limits of this small pamphlet to present all the facts concerning this rapidly advancing work of humanity The principles and articles of agreement are so sound and practical that no difficulty has been experienced by Prussian army authorities in the complete adoption and practice of them in the last two wars in which la the International Confei ence at Paris in 1S67 the American Association for Relief was represented by Delegates and in the Congress at Geneva for agreeing upon the basis of the International Treaty the U S Sanitary Commission was represented by a delegate But at the Wiirzburg and Berlin Conferences there were no delegates from either of these instittitions a circum Btance much regretted but unavoidable

HUMANITY IN WAR 17 they have been applied Russia and the German States have put into practice the various recommendations of the International Conference of delegates as well as the stipulations of the Geneva Treaty France also adopted the articles of the Treaty with great faithfulness but its wretchedly obstructive and bad system of the Intendance by which not only the voluntary but the regular military medical and sanitary service is crushed beneath an arbitrary dictatorship ignorant alike of medical and hygienic principles and duties is an imperial incubus upon the French Sanitary service Austria Italy Denmark and Spain have each had opportunity to put the Treaty into practice in their own countries respectively and have proved the practicaAll the other nations of Europe are ready bility of its stipulations In to sustain the Treaty in all particulars whenever war occurs each country this Treaty and the voluntary associations of the people that procured its adoption by the Government will not fail to present the proofs that the brotherhood of man is held by far stronger bonds than any which emperors and kings can create The fact is now confessed on all hands by the ablest military authorities as well as by people in civil life that there is no insurmountable difficulty in the application of voluntary aid for the relief of the sick and wounded after battles The idea and the individual plans of such relief are as old as the records of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem and the military consent and request for such assist ance from the people and for the observance of neutrality for the wounded dates back to the wars of Frederick the Great But the real impracticability of all such efforts previous to the recent war in the United States consisted chiefly in the absence of organization among the people and consequently of want of pre arrangement and good understanding with the governmental and military authorities The United States Sanitary Commission demonstrated that the benevolent help of the people can be as completely organized as any and the International Conference military forces and movements and Treaty of Geneva has proved that whatever voluntary means of relief for the sick and wounded are so organized can be made acceptable and be legitimately authorized in all the armies and military hospitals of Europe The fitting time said Surgeon Longmore of the British army has only recently arrived for what Avas exceptional to become the rule for such topics as those embraced in the Geneva Convention to excite general interest and to be held to 3

HUMANITY IN WAR i8 be of sufficient importance to European Governments to enter into a treaty respecting them The rules of warfare among civilized nations have always forbidden the infliction of suffering not necessary to the weakening of the enemy and in the ultimate results of any war the belligerent is most respected and morally strengthened that most strictly respects such rights of humanity as are compatible with the art and necessary acts of warfare The Duke de Fezensac a high authority upon such a military question says emphatically that such a regard for humanity is in war compatible with its terrible mission and with its own rules and special laws However hideous and unchristian the combats of armies actually are the occurrence of war is yet so inevitable between nations that philanthropic and thoughtful citizens in every country readily assent to the duty of giving hearty support to the great scheme of voluntary relief and International aid for the sick and wounded It was necessary of course that such a scheme should be devised upon an adequate basis of the popular intelligence and sympathies and of the necessities of armies and the usages of war and then also that such an organized plan of benevolence should be made acceptable to national Governments This accomplished as it has been in the work of the Sanitary Commissions and by the International Conferences and the Geneva this beneficent service of humanity cannot cease until the nations make war no more The faithful records of all wars until the present time have been as Miss Nightingale truly says frightful records of preventable suffering disease and death and as in former times these evils were regarded as incapable of mitigation and were allowed to breed barbarism and national hatred it has now been made a duty of civilization to bring to bear all practicable kinds of relief and charity for the unfortunate victims of war This duty is pressed upon the attention of all enlightened nations by the events now passing in the war between France and Prussia Neither the political questions and results of this war nor the distance of its bloody fields from us should hinder our responses to the calls for relief to the wounded The brotherhood of man the duties of civilization and religion and the daily messages of the telegraph and the International Committee for Succor appeal to us in America as urgently as to neighboring nations in Europe Lecture delivered at the Royal Service Institution England 1866 by Deputy Inspector General T LONGMOKE

Practical Operations Under Experience The in the war in Schleswig Holstein present war between France and mittee at 1870 Basle First report of Prussia and war of Austria Early work of the International Treaty Italy and Prussia the International Agency at Basle Com August The Working Hiilfs Vereine or Relief Societies the of the Plan of International Help In the in that of German Relief de Secours Aid by Geneva and Operation French Societes and Germany The Societies of other countries the Appeal for aid from the American People of Schleswig Holstein in 1864 in that of Austria Italy and Germany in 1866 and that of the Spanish Revolution in 1868 the principles and the practice of the scheme of voluntary relief as sanctioned by the Geneva Treaty and the International Conferences have been thoroughly tested even before the details of the plan were properly settled and understood But from the outbreak of the present war between France and Prussia though the summons and the collision burst upon a state of profound peace with the suddenness of a terrific explosion and with forces exceeding in numbers and the quickness of movements any previous example in history this sacred Treaty and the scheme of voluntary help have operated with the regularity and efficiency of a completely organized and outfitted department of the military service We an abstract of the authenwhich have been received by the American Branch concerning this grand work in Europe It is proper first to show what the Central or International Committee at Geneva is doing and secondly how the scheme of relief is conducted by the two belligerent countries and lastly what is being accomplished by the people in certain neighboring countries will here present ticated reports Extracts from the first Wounded The first Beport of the International Agency of Belief for the Month ending Aug 2 lst 1870 Basle Switzerland monthly report of the Basle Agency presents a daily record of the The Keport from wMeli these extracts are taken has been made by the International Committee of Geneva as provided by the Berlin Conference The Depot and Agency were established 19

HUMANITY IN WAR 20 receipts and distribution of invoices of sanitary supplies It appears that tlie and Switzerland have sent their gifts through this Agency Most of the other neutral countries have sent by direct routes to the hospitals of Germany and France not delaying for orders from the Geneva Committee but reporting to that advisory body the acts of their agents and receiving information etc thus maintaining in some degree the unity of the relief work The following quotations from the report of the intermediarywork of the Central Committee and Agency present important facts concerning relief societies of Italy the operation of the relief system PBEPAEATORT LABOES Geneva had made known to all the aid an Agency at Basle our first duty was to place ourselves in relation with the Committees of G ermany and France so At the same time we were obhged to address ourselves as to offer them oui aid to the Committees of neutral countries to solicit subsidies from them Moreover we endeavored to take and give information on aU sides as numex ous and exact as possible so as to be enabled to answer all sorts of questions In this respect the agency has from the first displayed great activity Next we took steps to obtain facihties of transport and our requests were After the International Committee of societies the creation and organization of Germany granted us freedom everywhere very favorably received of duties and transport as well as the free passage of persons recommended by us France remitted to us 75 per cent of expenses for the transport of staff and materiel As to Switzerland she first and very obligingly conceded to us the same Other countries as Holland and Belgium have since facilities as Germany post followed this example EESULTS OF THE APPEAX The best proof that we can give of the utility of our Agency is the remarkand constantly increasing success it has obtained The movement of our affairs is such that it will this week have obtained the figure of 1 000 packages More than 100 persons chiefly medical men have been sent on by us and with able at Basle as a central point of convenient Committee is constituted General Dufotje is Honorary President President Secretary of the Federal a Deputy Army of the Swiss Council conducted by Messeiurs Prof Socin Krayre Forster Sara and Vischer Sarasin The The of Switzerland MoNS GusTAVE MoTNiEK Dr Louis Appia Col Edmond Favee Hon Micheli De la Rive The business of the Agency at Basle sin Biscboff communication distribution and correspondence by the following members last week in August

HUMANITY IN WAR money which has been remitted tlie assist many to us 21 we have akeady been enabled to unfortunate sufferers Italy by its numerous invoices has furnished us the lai gest quantity money and help Bohemia Spain Eussia and Holland have also employed our intermediation however the geographical position of those countries has often induced them to employ more direct route for their expeditions as has constantly happened for England and Belgium In consequence of the numerous and incessant relations which Switzerland has constantly maintained with the two belligerent nations it might have been expected from the beginning that this International Agency established at Basle on the frontier of the three countries should have received particularly from that where it was located the largest exhibit of gifts In fact scarcely was the war declared but a serious and ardent desire of co operating in the assistance of the wounded showed itself under the most varied forms Propositions of personal service invoices of dressings offerings of every kind flowed Many Societies offered us regular deliveries of ice but certain into our hands invoices of this kind having melted it was expressly recommended not to send any unless we received a telegraphic demand for the same Abroad of materiel DIVISION OF THE SANITARY SUPPLIES Following the battles which have hitherto occurred the German wounded always remained in the hands of their near countrymen but they have had moreover in their charge almost all the wounded French soldiers those shghtly injured only having been enabled to retreat with their own corps number of wounded French were found in the German Hospitals as well in Germany as in the French departments occupied by the enemy Now in accordance with the 6th Article of the Geneva Convention and Treaty these wounded were to be taken care of as if they had been wounded Germans The Society of Relief for the wounded having been founded as its title imports in the interest of the wounded and not to assist belligerent governments we did not think it incumbent on us after what had been said to make an exactly equal division of our gifts Sacli a division which at first sight seems the most simple and impartial would be httle equitable in reality and not easily justiThe agency resolved that as long as the greater part of the French fiable wounded would be cared for by the Germans to make largest transmissions into Germany rather than into France for the gifts benefit the wounded of both armies which is precisely the object which we proposed to ourselves When Thus a great there occurs any necessity for a change the agency wiU take the thing into con and divide its gifts differently We were obliged to consider also no longer possible for us to make our envoys reach the French Comwhilst great German reserve depots always accessible for us have es sideration that it is mittees

HUMANITY IN WAR 22 tabHslied near to the seats of combat asylums whicli they supply with saries at least as much communication which are placed at neces is our command entangled equilibruim if we promptly restore the momentarily shall transportation becomes easier Let us further observe wounded French who escaped that the all permitted by the incumberment of the means of But thanks to the regularity and abundance of the resources as capture took refuge in large numbers in Thus many of the wounded of Wiessemburg and Woerth are at Strasbourg or at Betche and those of the battles fought around Metz were received into that city It is clear that aid from without cannot be made to reach them We hope that our donators will approve of our action and acknowledge that according to their wishes an equal partition of aid among the wounded of both nations has been effected as completely as circumstances would permit fortresses actually surrounded by the enemy GERMANY At the special request of the Central Committee we directed a large invoice of material to Berhn Oiir principal fields of activity are Carlsruhe Mannheim where ticularly all sides and very par the central depot of aid which being supplied on can send daily to the army channel by which the Baden is fields of battle all that it stands in need can be reached is of The only that of the Grrand Dachy we have been anked by that means to furnish aid to the loounded French in the environs and the town of Haguenau The Mnlhausen Committee has thus been enabled already to act by our intermediation Requisitions have come to us from Munich Stuttgart Spire Niederbronn Mannheim and Fribourg to which we have responded according to the best of our ability of euen from France herself FEAlSrCE was Strasbourg and we had the satisfaction to introaid dressings medicines and assistants on the very evening of the investment of the city Afterwards our messengers c uld only go as far as Grafenstaden a cannon shot from the unhappy city At the expressed desire of the Central Committee of Paris we thenceforth addressed our stores to that place always under care of a delegate but latterly this Committee has desired of us to keep in reserve at Basle the aid that was destined for it Those of our delegates who have made the journey from Haguenau through France returned by the Grand Duchy of Baden and went forth again furnished vpith a complete as Our first duce into it objective point some pecuniary sortment of articles to devote themselves almost wholly to the aid of the wounded French Delegates of Bischwiller have just arrived through the Baden provisions will await them where the wants seemed very great and their return with abundant territory be a blessing for the poor groaning sufferers who so anxiously

HUMANITY IN WAR 23 we have received daily since the existence of the from physicians and attendants offers of nurses unagency however we fortunately we were obliged to reject almost from the beginning have sent in all the earlier periods some male and female attendants to the Strasbourg Committee who should have been directed to the field of battle with the column of aid leaving Strasbourg a part of which is still actively employed in the ambulances of Hagnienau On the other hand the physicians and particularly the surgeons have had alas only too much occupation Our colleague Prof Socin with whom were joined several other professors and medical men took the direction of the ambulance de la gave look out at Carlsruhe which now Besides the mihtary physicians who have recontains about 400 wounded sponded in great numbers to the appeal of Gen Herzog C3mmander in Chief of the Swiss army have been sent by Dr Lehmann their Physician in chief either at Paris or in Germany Offers of personal service numerous offers It is well in this connection to observe that the International no power whatever right or authorized to do attest that 1 so even necessary for It is Germany or France unless those we send to Germany to each one possesses the following papers A agency has to send physicians into diploma of the local authority relating to his right to practice medicine 2 An authorization to go to the belligerent army given by the same authority 3 A passport delivered by a North German legation at sight of these two and indicating at the same time the place of destination papers Similar papers are required in France Dr Lehmami the physician m chief has preserved the organization of the Swiss Military Medical Department in spite of the almost total disbandment of the federal troops the military physicians are therefore requested to address their offers to As a want of attendants might be him felt hereafter at Berne the Central Committee of the Swiss Society for Eelief at Berne has sent formulas to aU the local committees in the cantons on which the attendants who offer their services must be registered so that they We have also may be obtained in ease they should be needed Bohemia similar offers of aid Prof de Huebbenet of Kiew by them according to need delegated by his Government and by the Eussian Aid Society and accompanied by fifteen physicians of his country went to Mannheim to penetrate thence to and have received from Italy Holland and profited the theatre of war with the intention of there dividing their medical succors between the bellig erents in what should seem the most useful way

HUMANITY IN WAR 24 TRAJSrSinSSION OF LETTERS AND INFORMATION Immediately after the commencement of hostilities the Committee of Geneva conceived the thought of proposing our agenc to the belligerent countries as the intermedium of correspondence between the wounded and their families as well as for communications which the Committees of Aid of the belhgerent powers may have to make to each other reciprocally The proposition has been accepted on both sides with great avidity and we have many proofs that this branch of our activity has had precious results Many thousands of letters have already been forwarded by our intermediation and many tears have certainly been dried in that way From a mother even we derive the beautiful title of the Society which takes pity on Mothers By a notice pasted on all letters which pass through its hands the agency is it takes upon itseK to forward answers to then desti We daily transmit sums of money to the wounded and prisoners and careful to give notice that nation have taken ste s to answer in this respect the incre sing demand upon us Every day we are asked for information as to soldiers who have disappeared and we refer some to the Central Bureau of Information at Berlin and Caiisruhe We have been promised complete hsts of French wounded who are to be found in the different German hospitals and have just received a first series are obliged for the of these lists This will considerably simplify researches We moment same favor to postpone obtaining the as to prisoners because of the extent of the labor The question which had been so possibility of strangers visiting often repeated to us Germany to take care of on the subject wounded of the relatives has received from competent authorities a categorical negative answer GIFTS OF SUPPLIES IN KIND profound sentiment of gratitude that we announce the list of the wounded soldiers the invoices have taken proportions which had not been foreseen by the Agency and which soon compelled us to We take advantage of the occasion establish ourselves in a larger place which this first report affords to addi ess to the donors recommendations on It is with a gifts received for certain points the great and the expression of certain wishes It is impossible seeing of objects which comes to us to open all the cases and number verify their contents consequently it is desirable that each case or package ad NoTE At the moment of going to press we learn from a certain source tliat eontrarily to statement the Prussian Minister at Berne relying on the 5th article of the Geneva Treaty declares that without hindrance safe conduct to persons who wish to go to Germany to tend their relatives or prisoner friends and bring them back to France will be given Information has reached us from Germany that this humane and almost unprecedented liberality of the military autliorities has been exercised in that country with happy results But Buch a ijrivilege manifestly should be both well guarded and sacredly honored Editor this

HUMANITY IN WAR 25 dressed to us should be accompanied by as exact an inventory as possible and it is best to joaste this list on the lid of the cases number very desirable that each Committee should It is also successively the packages which it sends which greatly facilitates the control of objects received etc Here follow various specific du ections for packing and invoicing the sup phes that are destined for the field and hospitals Editor will add a request it is that as much as possible all packets whose weight exceeds 10 pounds should be sent to us by railroad and not by post We which in Switzerland admits free only packages below that weight Here the Committee enumerates the various kinds of articles most wanted Editor When we receive packages etc with a special destination for the Ger man or for the French we have hastened to act according to the views of the donors but it is impossible to follow these directions for smaU packets Many gifts wiQ be again confided to us and we will do our best to distribute them according to the spirit of the Convention of Geneva impartially among the wounded of both nations The invoices have been assorted in the most varied manner There came to us moreover a certain number of packages for which a special destination was indicated either for Committees of succor or for local ambulances or individuals We have in all cases sent these invoices to their address but nevertheless we must remark that invoices to the addresses of individuals do not go free Therefore we earnestly beg that invoices shall not be sent to us for individuals but that those w ho send them will be kind enough to send by some other means of transmission SUMMARY OF RECEIPTS AND DISTRIBUTIONS AT THE BASLE AGENCY IN AUGUST The 1000 boxes and bales of supplies comprised every variety of sanitary stores and appliances that had been called for in the Com quilts Compresses and roller bandages lint and old linen bands shirts and pillows basins and sponges blouses and delicate viands and liquors uncut goods for hospitals and money for necessary purchases etc mittee s circulars flannel tributions during the The month was sanitary stores total amount during August were equally to the French and ample The of cash con 26 450 85 francs German distributed hospitals respectively nearly for ex To Hospitals and besieged cities in France the Committee sent 4 219 packages

HUMANITY IN WAR 26 To Battlefields in France To German Hospitals The principal depot for month of August was the Committee sent 214 packages 183 sanitary supplies for battlefields during Mannheim The cash in hand by the Committee was expended for the relief of the wounded near the battlefields and for those at Strasbourg 1000 francs for Strasbourg refugees at Haguenau 1000 for chloroform 500 for morphine quinine and carbolic acid 518 to Relief Committee at Bischwiller 500 the at francs etc etc This work of the Committee and Agency in Switzerland has been simply supplementary and intermediary while the advice which this Committee has been able to give to the relief associations of Holland Belgium England and Russia has helped on the means of relief which have been hastened from those countries to the vicinity of the battlefields The sanitary stores from the Basle Agency have supplied the deficiencies that no other source could at the time fuUj supply Thus The principles it is likely to continue to do until the war ceases that have governed us in the division and distribution of the supplies confided to us say the Committee have been to act with strictest impartiality and always to be ready to aid wherever it has become knoivn to us that the necessity for relief With minutely relief agents is the greatesty renewed information from and in hospitals and with the International Committee in neutral particular and daily and surgeons on access to the besieged cities battle fields Switzerland fully appreciates the wants in both of the belligerent countries and most faithfully does that body of honored men perform the duty entrusted to them by the National Associations for Relief The opening paragraphs of their report for August tell how the great events of the hour are impressing their minds in regard to the relief work They say We sometimes have difficulty in believing the reality of the facts which are spread out before us With wounded hearts we daily learn of the cruel and irreparable loss of great and precious lives groan at the cruel horrors that Occur in our civilized Europe in a circle that only recently boasted of the progress it was making Nevertheless by the side of this tableau of terrors which the war is unfolding to our view in such a manner as to make us doubt humanity itself we now behold a horizon most consoling the spectacle of which must efface or greatly ameliorate our sympathetic anxiety We

HUMANITY IN WAR 27 Throughout the world we now see called into life a sacred charity that pouifs balm upon the wounds and which with a noble abnegation comes to offer its voluntary means of relief where ordinary supplies have proved insufficient RELIEF SOCIETIES OF THE BELLIGERENT NATIONS Both in France and Prussia the central National Society of Relief was found ready for immediate service when the war was proclaimed The International Conference at Paris in 1867 left its good influence upon the newly begun work in that capital and throughout France and the Conference at Berlin in 1869 was accompanied by a very wide spread public interest in the design and organization of the H dlfs Vereine or Relief Societies Hence there ensued such endeav ors to perfect the central and auxiliary societies in Prussia and the German States that when war was declared the central society at Berlin and the Relief Societies in each State acted without a day s delay and without confusion THE GERMAN RELIEF WORK The Relief Associations Hiilfs Vereine of Prussia and the German States taking their instructions and inspiration directly from the decisions of the International Conference that lin in was assembled at Ber the previous year have been able to give great unity and effect to the voluntary work for relief The central Committee of direction found their plans and wishes heartily seconded by the State and auxiliary Societies The promptitude and fraternity of this activin Berlin ity in Germany are shown in the calls to co operation The summons of the Saxon Committee we reprint here Union and Concentration of official Relief Work in Saxony Notice The Saxon International Relief Societies the International Verein for the Relief of Soldiers wounded in the field and the Albert Verein have in view and for the time of the expected war formed a union under the name of International Relief Society for the Kingdom of Saxony and her royal majesty the Society Crown

HUMANITY 28 IN WAR Princess of Saxony has been kind enough to accept the Presidency thereof For the Directory of the Albert Verein Dr Staundorff Secretary For the Directory of the International Society for the Relief of Soldiers ivounded in the war Von Dresden July i6 Kriegern Secretary 1870 summons of the Crown Princess Karola Saxon Central Society for ReUef which was issued to the united auxihary societies the day next following the Union here French declaration of war and the formation of the Subjoined is a copy of the as the Directress of the mentioned Appeal to the United Saxon International Eelief Societies Again war is broken out again bloody battles will be fought whose victims will soon fill the hospitals It is the duty of the International Relief Societies again to do their humane work But the means on hand are insufficient We are however certain of the aid of the Saxon people which in the sad periods of the year 1866 so gloriously proved its readiness to help you fellow citizens to you women and maidens of Saxony we again repeat the urgent appeal Help us in this work give us your aid with money with bandages and supplies To Karola Signed Dresden July iph Directress of the Albert Verein Crown Princess of Saxony 1870 Beporfs of Beceipt and Expenditures together with an Appeal of the Central Committee of the German Societies for the Belief of Sick and Wounded Soldiei s While we express our most heartfelt thanks to all the country and societies to this and other corporations and to all Germans in this and foreign countries for the assistance they have given us in aid of our work we must yet tell them that the wants continue to be large and that we expect from them further liberal help In addition to the expenditures of all kinds for the sick and wounded of the German armies in action in addition to the expendi branch

HUMANITY IN WAR 29 tuies for SLippplying the depots which are being pushed on further the assistance to other ReUef Societies and the numer and further ous Hospitals the provisioning to the transports for the q personnel the assistance the evacuation of Hospitals in of etc wounded and the occupied parts of the country zve must continue to do our best in view of the suddenly appearing raw and damp weather to keep away diseases from the armies All this thank Providence has been done thus far in a most thorough manner and we rejoice in the expectation to be able to note downjn our report at the end of the war the truly united work of all German Societies and of the whole German people The total receipts at our central trea sury amount so far to 1 342 793 thalers Deduct a The sum of 166 888 thalers which was designed by the donors for the invalids of the present war and the widows and orphans of the killed F 20 153 thalers which in accordance with the wish of the donors were paid to several Societies Total 187 402 thalers Total for our use 1 155 391 thalers There have been paid out up to this date 877 037 thalers The sum of 278 353 thalers which in accordance with this report are on hand yet are already exhausted by the purchase of material which is not paid as yet by orders which we have given and by other responsibilities which we have taken upon ourselves in carrying out the purpose of our work to the end These responsibilities are connected principally Avith the care of the sick and wounded the keeping of the nurses and the returning home of our personnel etc May the assistance of the Societies and the readiness of other donors to make sacrifices soon give us the necessary aid Equal to 820 327 51 American dollars gold

HUMANITY IN WAR 30 Contributions may be addressed to our central treasury No 12 Unter den Linden The Central Comviittee for the Relief of Sick Signed Berlin and Wounded R VoN Soldiers YT 0 Secret aryT Sept 26 1870 This report presents barely the treasury account of receipts and expenditures kind have been The receipt and distribution of sanitary supplies in managed upon a plan similar to that devised by the Sanitary Commission in our late war and are reported to have thus been in about the same proportion to the gifts in money as the American contributions exhibited through our war that is the value of materials given is about three times greater than the total gifts of money This proportion seems also to have been experienced in France and Switzerland so far as we can judge from the reports that far have reached us The thoroughness of organization and promptitude of action in the German Relief work are well shown by the results produced and the methods adopted THE FRENCH SOCIeTeS DE SECOURS From war the National Societe de Secours at number of completely furnished Ambulance Corps Through numerous auxiliaries in all portions of France and by means of a subscription list in Paris nearly 3 000 000 francs were received into the central Treasury for Relief during the first month of active operations and previous to the capitthe beginning of the Paris prepared itself to send forward a large ulation at Sedan the National Comite de Secours had fitted out no than eight corps d ambulance having a list of nearly looo attendants and surgeons Besides these there was a corps organized by Amerless Organization of the Ambulance Hospital Service of the National Society for Relief in France Tlie and defects of the regular army medical and sanitary system were so well understood by the officers of the National Society that from the first they determined to offer to the government a large number of completely equipped ambulance and fleld hospital corps with ambulance wagons tents surgeons nurses and hospital farniture Previous to the capitulation at Sedan several of these ambulance hospitals had come up with the army and three of them had been found at work upon fields won by the Prussians Each of the first nine arnbulauce corps that were fitted out under the auspices of the Society in insufficiency

HUMANITY IN WAR 31 under the auspices of Dr Evans of Paris and another was organized by American and English surgeons and rapidly pushed forward towards Metz At Sedan this ambulance corps came up with the discomfited French army the day previous to capitulation The French authorities assigned that corps a site outside the city and operations were immediately begun on the 31st of August the surgeons and dressers being under fire most of the day and one attendThis ambulance or field hospital ant being killed while on duty with its 500 patients was left hy the victorious Prussians and at the date of last intelligence from it a month after the French had assigned its location it was still in the same place and its beds full of wounded soldiers that had been gathered up from the battle field the first of September Now when the regular army ambulance and sanitary system of France has been utterly disorganized and crippled by the disasters of the war the National Societe de Secours is comparatively unembarrassed In the besieged cities its work goes on through the auxiliary committees and their ambulance and hospital organizations in while the work of organization and outfitting by the these places National Comite de Secours now at Tours is pushed on with efficiency under the directorship of Count de Flavigny Dr Le Fort the Medical Chief of voluntary ambulance service having been detained at Metz Concerning this work a correspondent of the N Y Courrier des Etats Unis writes from Tours under date of September 17th icans Paris comprised personnel of nearly 100 persons viz 1 Surgeon in Chief 14 Surgeons and AssistAgent or Steward 1 or 2 Chaplains 3 clerks together with teamsters and servants 17 hospital tents ambulance and freight wagons 40 horses oOO beds and 100 litters The entire train of wagoas goods and attendants was capable of being put under way in ten minutes and in case of battle the official staff aided by a reserve corps of surgeons and assistants The cost of the outfit of wagons is able temporarily to take care of 1500 wounded soldiers horses and the materiel for such an ambulance corps amounts to 150 000 francs ant Surgeons 13 Sub assistants 52 Attendants 1 Dispensing A letter from Dr McCormick one of the English members of the Ambulance Corps here men About 9 or 10 o clock in the mornFor sis hours this ew ing they began firing straight into Sedan from the hights opposite cCenfer never abated Our house was often struck by the shells One of our injirmiers was literally torn into shreds and another grievously wounded just at the door Early in the morning the tioned gives the following facts to his friends at wounded began till home to arrive not only those of the 1st but those of the day before and all that day was busy performing capital operations I must confess the practice of sur late in the night I We receive daily visits from gery under fire is anything but agreeable but I had to do it Burgeons of the French and Belgian ambulances and from the German surgeons also They ai e surprised and pleased to find our organization so complete

HUMANITY IN 32 WAR That which most interests the city is the work of Mons de Flavigny and his assistants The work of the Society for the ReUef of Wounded is everywhere welcomed with respect and sympathy All persons are placing all the resources they can dispose of at its Mons de Flavigny is about to organize ambulances in the disposal departments of Indre et Loire Sarthe and Maine et Loire Tours will be the central depot the college has given up its large buildings and the white badges with the red cross swarm in the streets Whatever adversities may continue to befall the people of France and whatever struggles they yet may make for the establishment of their National Government they have so heartily adopted the spirit as well as the methods of the Geneva Treaty and International Conferences that this work of humanity must continue to be more and more successful in its operations until the war tceases We give in this place the following extract from the letter of thanks which the French National Coinite de Secours has sent to the Austrian HulfsVerein Relief Society in Vienna Humanity asks that the principle holy to all cultivated nations of our day that the enemy when wounded is an enemy no more but a irother to whom zve must extend our helping hand without regard to nationality should be carried out in its largest sense by the Relief Societies of all nations and that the misery of the war can be relieved only when every one does what he would wish to be done to himself in a like situation The Central Committee of the German Relief Societies has given to the Austrian Association a like expression of the German sentiment on this subject Practical Working of the Plan of International Help In this most sudden and terrible of all the wars which Europe has and Treaty which the nations agreed upon at Geneva have been so well tested that no reasonable doubts or objections are now urged against this scheme of philanthropy by any of the suffered the plan observers of the work The inherent difficulties which attend upon first efforts at administering a new and vast enterprise in the midst of a great war are seen and confessed by the co workers ia the

HUMANITY IN WAR But the work 33 and it has already demonstrated which all the civilized world will understand as they never understood and acted upon before Guided by the principles which developed the plans of the International Conferences and Treaty for Relief of the Miseries of War the people of all countries which are accessible to the belligerents can readily concentrate their sympathies and every kind of means of relief for the sick and wounded and secure the administration of Europe is a success several very important truths their gifts with strict impartiality to the sufferers of both belligerent armies and experience proves that national animosities do not practischeme of philanthropy cally interfere with this international The which has already been given by Belgium Holland wounded of both belligerent armies has been as fraternal and effective as it could have been had all this voluntary work of charity been concentrated upon either one of the armies and the total amount of it is doubtless tenfold greater for being impartial in its objects The aid rendered by Belgium and Holland is said to be the most perfect in all respects that has ever been witnessed in the ambulance and field hospital service in any war so complete is the system the surgical and nursing attendance and the supply of hospital materiel But it remained for the people of England to present in this war the most remarkable example of liberality ever witnessed by one country towards the people of other countries The National Society of England for the Relief of the Sick and Wounded in War assistance and England to the The Some tion of vvas latter fact is strikino Iy illustratecl its by the spontaneous work has been previously mentioned in the following words acts of the Austrian Relief Society in these pages Its official summons to co opera Vienna July 21 1870 Appeal of the Ventral Committee of the Austrian Belief Society The war which has just broken out over Europe calls on the Austrian Relief Society to perform the international work as laid down in its regulations and according to which it is the duty of the Society in the event of a war between foreign powers to aid as Society and special contributions The Relief Society equally dividing its make it acts therefore in as the means of the accordance with the principles of strictest neutrality by every wounded soldier has a right to our endeavors between the two belligerents and relief The Austrian Relief Committee ties in Germany and France much possible to do help This international society will has therefore opened communications with the central Socie however in case donors have preferences for one or the other part of the belligerents use the funds in accordance with the wish of the donors The Austrian Relief Society thinks itself justified in expecting a strong co operation of the population for the ready assistance which the Austrian German sides still lives in our grateful 5 memory wounded received from the French and

HUMANITY IN WAR i4 was organized on the 26th of July 1870 and had only a very few auxthe end of that month But rapidly developing its organization and working systematically it raised and sent forward to the wounded in France and Germany during the months of August and September the products of cash contributions to the amount of 220 854 pounds sterling together with large quantities of hospital supplies which have been sent to its central depot in London Nearly 100 expert surgeons have also received the badge of the Red Cross and gone from England to serve the wounded Dr John Simon the iliaries established at Chief Medical Officer of the Privy Council and a staff of English ashave charge of a model surgical hospital at Bingen on the Rhine And lastly upon request of the National Society in London the British Secretary of State for War has ordered that a complete ambulance train on full service scale with wag ons and hospital outfits for 200 beds shall be sent forward to some point most agreeable sistants to the French or German army Switzerland the scheme first in the authorities field as likewise first to urge the of international relief has officially sent the chief portion of Army Medical Staff to France and Germany and this frabeen received by the belligerent governments with expressions of gratitude Italy has been daily sending forward her generous stores for the wounded of both armies and in every country the resident natives of France and Germany are stimulated alike by patriotic and humane sentiments to give liberally to the Relief SoAnd Russia also as we have alcieties of their respective nations ready mentioned has outfitted and sent forward through the Russian Committee of Relief one of the ablest companies of surgeons in Northern Europe By such acts as these by munificent contributions in money and materials for relief of the wounded by such personal chivalry and professional fraternity as these surgeons and aids of the National Relief Societies have exhibited and by such burial and forgetfulness of national and sectarian prejudices and enmities has not the spirit of the civilization and religion of our times become ennobled the Swiss ternal act has The German bom population in America have contributed freely for the relief of the woundand with great magnanimity have not only sent all their gifts directly to the Prussian Central Relief Society but have specifically directed that these contributions shall be impartiallj bestowed upon all the wounded within the German lines The Germans and French will continue to contribute munificently but that will not diminish the obligation of our American born citizens to give This obligation is due to humanity ed

HUMANITY IN WAR 35 not the brotherhood of man strengthened and exalted Even if this were no necessary part of the fruit of such beneficence and sympathy it certainly is an ample reward for these labors under the and is Geneva Treaty mitio ated and that untold agonies terrors that thousands of human lives and dangers have been have been saved such we comforters and preservers of homes Savers of men know from personal observation are the faithful surgeons in armies and hospitals and such are all the skilled persons who bring sanitary and help to the sick and wounded Throughout the long and terrible civil war in our beloved country how thoughtfully and with what determination did the reprerelief sentatives of these branches of patriotic duty strive to secure the application of the people s aid in the saving of our brave soldiers from needless suffering and untimely death And now shall we not pity and strive to alleviate the woes of the hundreds of thousands of Gersoldiers who are at this hour in the military hospifrom home and longing to live for those they love The fresh memories of our own terrible experience in these United States arouse our fraternal sympathies and urge the people of this country to contribute generously and without delay to the work of International aid and relief for those who fall upon the battle fields or languish in hospitals The war is not ended when we write these words apparently not nearly ended nor will the wants of the wounded cease until many months after the war shall have ceased In the latest dispatch to the American Branch of the International Association for Re man and French tals far lief the President of the sire and need your gifts Geneva Committee sa3 s We earnestly defor the wounded the wants are large urgent and recurring without ceasing It is exceedingly desirable that America should awaken the elan of the friendly world after having given to it so good and great an example in the war of the secession We lay American peoprompt and generous contributions from them to the great work of Humanity in War a work for all civilized nations and which had its first great and inspiring example in these United States of America these statements and this appeal before the ple respectfully urging that there shall be